I can't Think of Anything Except it has to Do With
by Fluffy Otters
Summary: Lame title. I'm going to change it as soon as soon as I come up with something or someone has a better title. However...anyone who reads my Alejandro stories knows how odd they are...and this might be one of the weirdest yet. Alejandro/Heather fun also.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I have never (sadly) owned Alejandro, Heather, Duncan, or any other Total Drama Franchise characters that might appear.

Authors Note: Wow, lame title. I wasn't sure what to call this or where this exactly came from. I just like to mess with character personalities and this is somewhat...different. I love the little nicknames Heather gives and poor Duncan. He's not a bad guy and I love him. However, this one is an Alejandro/Heather story although I probably will write one for Duncan since most of the time I write Duncan as more...emotional.

Heather walked in, ready for some exercise. She got her favorite bag, her tunes were all stocked and she got to be able to scan for hot guys while burning off fat (not that she had any anymore, but she couldn't take any chances and by now it was habit and she enjoyed it). She had been fat once and she wasn't going to go back there anymore. It was yet another new town and this one she planned to be on top unlike the others, where no one knew her and she could be somebody different. She paused a second scanning the room under her shades. As expected, mainly guys working out and girls pretending to but more chattering and attempting to look nonchalant while studying them and it would take a really obtuse or absorbed in what they're doing person, or the common guy, Heather thought wryly, not to notice that. Then, most guys Heather had known were about as dumb as a bag of rocks, which was an offense to rocks everywhere considering that at least rocks were more useful and knew when to shut up. Oftentimes they were better looking as well, which was pretty sad because she wasn't talking about pretty stones like amethyst or lazuli. No, just common grey sediment rocks. Her luck with guys was nonexistent though many drooled over her. But she didn't want just anyone. She wanted someone…extraordinary.

She turned and accidentally walked into a solid chest that was coming in the opposite direction. Dazed, Heather embarrassedly landed on her butt while brick wall had the pertinence to remain completely unphazed. A hand reached down and she grabbed onto it as he helped her up. She looked up for a second and her breath was completely taken away. Green brilliant eyes peered worriedly over her. Long flowing dark hair, perfect nose and cheekbones, nice body hugging leather pants (not just anyone could wear those) and insanely built body that could be seen even through his red jacket that was open exposing a white tank top and bull necklace. And she also knew how (deliciously, she always had been a sucker for big guys) muscular he was considering she almost ran into him and knocked herself out, which would have been embarrassing. Actually, it still was. He was staring at her now and she realized she had been unconsciously still been holding onto his (very fine) hand for a bit too long. She quickly lets go with a gulp and tries to calm her speeding heart. It was just a guy, she told herself. Just a huge attractive guy that towered over her with rippling muscles and dark hair, like in a romance novel, just as she always dreamed would happen. But he was ordinary, not going to sporadically sweep her off her feet and carry her while he…shit, that wasn't where she wanted to go. Leaning back she saw his confused start to narrow into an irritated grimace. He grunted, shifting his own bag.

"I hope you're okay, sorry for making you fall. Now if you'll excuse me…" he tried to step around her as she stepped to the same side, trying to let him by so they ended up in front of each other again. She saw his eyes narrow and his mouth start to downturn as he tried to get by her again and she accidentally stepped in front of him, again. She could tell he was beginning to get angry and she quickly backed backwards out of the way as he stalked away from her, every sexy inch of him taunting her despite the anger radiating off him. She went to the water fountain to get a drink, having suddenly found herself very thirsty. She also found herself literally banging her head against the wall asking why as some very creeped out girl watched her. She couldn't believe what a fool she made of herself and she'd probably die of mortification if Mr. Sex God (as she dubbed him until further notice because he was the hottest man she had ever seen, of any age) saw her again. He had been pissed when he left her and she couldn't believe she kept accidentally blocking him which probably sent unintentional stalker signals to him. Embarrassingly, she openly knew that if she was able to without being viewed as creepy, she would love finding out about him. It's just too bad she blew any chance of ever talking to him again that she had. Curse her guy luck, why did she always either wreck anyone who might have been good and always had to be a creeper disgusting guy magnet? She remembered the last guy who had been interested in her. Apparently he had been watching her through peep holes and was a known pervert. He had somehow got a hold of her underwear and added it to some girl panties shrine. He had been arrested just right before the Aaronson's moved so she got to find out all the sordid little details that were mentally disturbing. And the guy before that had been a drunk football player who only wanted to get in her (and everyone else's) pants. And before that a kleptomaniac who was arrested for repeated shoplifting. She didn't understand what made her so appealing to such creepy people. Did she seem that desperate or something? She'd rather meet nobody at all than to continually be a magnet for the kinkiest, scummiest, lowest, dirtiest, animals that were barely even human. What had she done to deserve that? Was it because she had once been fat? She couldn't see how that was relevant but nor could she see any connection as to why she kept attracting weird people, most of whom she didn't even know which was even creepier. Ugh…

Making her way back, she saw Mr. Sex God (so f-ing hot that it still made Heather excited) doing a bench press of some…350 lbs. She stopped and backed up. She counted the plates again. 50, 50, 50 on each side and if the bar was 50, that made…350 pounds. 350 pounds? She couldn't imagine a guy his age (couldn't be more than what, 17-19? Not much older than her and she was 18) being able to lift more than 300, let alone an additional 50 pounds, and still be able to do more from the looks of it. He wasn't exactly having an easy time of it, but not a hard one either. None of the sexy grunts, groans, and other noises as they pump their muscles to the max. He could definitely do more, especially since who she assumed his workout buddy (some seriously buff biker looking guy with a Mohawk and a couple of piercings who she might have found attractive despite the criminal type look if she hadn't already seen Mr. Sex God, indeed she did find him somewhat so but not as much) was kind of not really paying attention. He was the only other guy in the gym who even looked big enough to even be able to help get a weight like 350+ up off should an accident occur or something. At one of her old schools, their strongest athlete (football player naturally, they really loved football their and admittedly while she didn't care much for the sport itself she loved the hot players) Jordan had a max of about 310 bench press, which seemed pretty impressive considering the next strongest had been about 240 max. Jordan had been big too, but next to Sex God, he wasn't all that impressive. The clothes had actually been misleading and now that he had taken the jacket off and bared his arms, she could see just how misleading. The jacket had somehow (where he actually found one to be that big on his size she did not know) been able to be big enough on him to disguise his size since his arms were just massive python size. And his chest and pecs were very wide and broad. She was certain he must have had a very deep 6 or even 8 pack beneath his shirt considering his flat belly and mass. And, thankfully since most spent very unequal proportions which turned it from hot to disturbing to see the lower part, his legs were well in balanced proportion to his upper body and didn't look all off. Needless to say, legs were huge and his pants were very sexy hugging.

He finished his set and Mohawk guy seemed to suddenly be awake as he added another 7.5 on each side (since it was only 7.5 it must be near or at his max). This time as the bar went up, Mohawk was alert and ready although it turned out unneeded amazingly. As slow as it went up and down and the evident strain in the arms, with all of a sudden a lot of grunting which Heather couldn't figure out because it was really just 7.5 more than before and it hadn't been difficult then but she didn't know all about these things, Sex God managed 6 reps before jerking it and having Mohawk rack it up again. So that made…365, a probable 370-75 max of one rep. Holy crap. That was impressive. Mohawk helped Sex God up and all of a sudden both were bombarded by girls, or rather, Sex God. Mohawk managed to back away and no one really seemed to notice him surprisingly. Mohawk caught her eye and winks as he leaves the throng, clearly telling her he was going to not be near that dog pile. Heather winked back and Mohawk smiled as he walked off, giving her a good luck gesture as he pointed at the mass of girls. She shot him a confused look but he ignored it, just giving her some cryptic motion she had no idea what was supposed to mean. It looked like brushing crumbs off an imaginary table and eating something. Or maybe she was way off. Either way, she had no idea what the heck it was supposed to mean. Shrugging, Heather looked back, at Sex God besieged by girls who only came up to his shoulders. He looked ruefully around, his eyes begging for mercy as they all chattered at him at once. Heather felt a bit sorry for him but she smiled sweetly at him when his eyes found hers. His eyes blazed as he glared at her and she felt compelled and chastised to rescue him as she pushed through them and pulled him out saying "sorry ladies, but me and my brother need to go". One confident girl had the guts to actually walk up and trail her fingers down his arm as he again stood their awkwardly and Heather became very angry at her, feeling a bit possessive. Not that she technically had any right to be but he didn't seem to know what to do so it was up to her to put trampy back in her place.

"Hey, no touching allowed," Heather hissed at her. The girl turned and looked at her, surprised for a second for it didn't seem she was even aware Heather had even been there. She was kind of pretty, Heather supposed, if one happened to like trampy dumb looking blondes, which Heather decided all of a sudden she didn't. This was one of the types that used to make fun of her back in Ridgewood, all because she had been a little…overweight. It wasn't that bad, okay it was, but she didn't deserve that kind of treatment because she looked like…like that. It had gotten so bad and there had been that thing with that creepy stalker pervert, that Heather's family decided to move and Heather decided to reinvent herself. She went on a diet and training regimen and after a year had lost over 120 pounds and actually looked hot now, something other guys admired (other than for being looked at as an easy slut target for some reason since no one else would want a fat person) although…she still knew what they wanted and while she did want that as well, she didn't want it with some sleazy bastard who would leave her afterwards. She wanted someone who cared for her. Dumb blond Jane (she didn't care what any of their names were, she was just going to call them all Jane Doe) was giving her the death look. Heather returned one (better) and Jane looked away. Hah! Take that bitch! You don't mess with Heather and her man…uh, never mind that last part. Yet. Maybe in her dreams. But like she was going to let blonde mess with her! Pulling Sex God behind her, she sped walk away, making sure to dodge other girls who might want to mob him. He followed meekly behind her, obviously terrified of all the other girls who were only half his size which was really funny. Glancing nervously behind them, he kept rubbing his bull necklace muttering something under his breath that sounded like Spanish which was never a class Heather had really ever been good in unfortunately. Finally when they escaped the girls (hadn't he ever done this before? Surely he must be mobbed everywhere with looks like that and he looked like a regular attendee at that gym or at least knew Mohawk!)they went to a park bench and sat down for a rest. Suddenly he spoke to her something in Spanish and when she didn't respond, switched to a (also sexily, was there anything he did that wasn't? She was beginning to wonder) heavily accented English.

"T-thank you, my name is Alejandro, Alejandro Burromuerto." Burromuerto? While Heather wasn't good with Spanish, she recognized the word muerto which was death or dead or something. And she knew what a burro was. So his last name was…dead donkey? That was…different. Alejandro was blushing lightly after he said that. People probably always came to a similar conclusion when they heard his last name. He shrugged. "It is…a good name. A bit….embarassing….but it has family history you could say. What is your name?"

"Heather, Heather Aaronson." He gave a slight smile.

"Heather? That is a pretty name for a…a pretty girl," he said shifting nervously. Heather couldn't believe it but he seemed…nervous. He kept looking at her from under his eyelashes but so that it was hard for her to look directly at his eyes now. This was very different from how he had been in the gym when they collided and he pulled her up. Then his eyes held a blazing fire. Now they were just on a shy young looking face on a huge body. He was rubbing his wrists uncertainly, causing the muscles to flex and un-flex which was very distracting and begged to be jumped on. Before she did so, Heather asked him what she was wondering and to take her mind off of the…uh…interesting marvel.

"So Alejandro, how old are you?"

"18?" he said making it sound somewhat like a question. "Y-yeah, I'm going to have my birthday in a few days and am going to turn 18. So right now I'm 17." That wasn't as hard to believe as it would have been before considering he seemed to have little to no experience in talking to girls with the way he froze up in there and how nervous he was with just her. She guessed he either didn't get out much and had been a mama's boy or spent all his time with males or both." He looked at her breasts for a second, stiffened, and quickly looked away. It was a disadvantage for him to be so tall and not look at her.

"So, uh, thanks for um, you know, help-helping me back there. I don't know why they all just came over like that. Duncan didn't warn me or mention how…how aggressive girls are there. Usually I meet him elsewhere but for some reason he wanted me there today." So Mohawk dude had a name. Duncan. That name sounded oddly familiar but she couldn't imagine where she heard it or how she would have possibly known the buff biker punk guy.

"Would…would you like to come…come to my birthday party?" Alejandro asked stumbling. Oh god, Sex God was afraid of girls and still called it birthday parties (in the way a little kid does), asking it as a question. Clearly he was going to need help when it ever came to dating (unless he was gay but for some reason she doubted it, Mohawk dude…um, Duncan, on the other hand with the way he was scanning Alejandro over earlier probably was, or at the least bisexual) and he'd probably resort to getting advice from probably family or some other guy who'll probably give terrible advice. Alejandro was going to need her to save him from that. And if she got to have an additional benefit then that's good too. While she had hoped he would be her dream guy (so dang close except the fact that he didn't have much of a spine against girls and wasn't demanding or confident yet), she could at least be a friend for now and help him gain the needed confidence.

"Sure. When and what time?"

"It's at…at 549 Willow Acre at 5:30 to an unknown time. Mostly family will be there, and a few friends. Duncan will be there." He said excitedly. That explained Duncan. A friend. She did wonder if Alejandro knew of Duncan's…interests.

"How long were you and Duncan friends?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He didn't seem to notice a thing.

"Oh...about a year now. He's 20 and really cool. My brother Carlos brought him over to fix a roof, part of Duncan's required community service or something. Me and him hit it off real fast. He's real funny and nice. You should get to know him because I'll bet you like him." She thought of that wink he had thrown her as he left and odd hand gesture. What was that all about and why did he leave him when Alejandro had no experience at all with girls? Surely he must have either known or talked about it at least once with him.

"I'm sure I will. I'm sure." Heather said uncertainly although Alejandro didn't seem to pick up on it as his smile widened.

"It's going to be so much fun! You'll meet Carlos, Duncan, Papa and Mama, Julio, Julain, Santiago…" Alejandro started rattling off the whole list of relatives and friends which she tuned out as she would never remember that may names. The fates must hate her. The guy she liked seemed to have the mentality of a 5 year old. What did she do wrong?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own Total Drama or any of its associated characters.

Author's Note: Umm..update. Felt a little ill and sick today but I updated. I really dislike the month of February because January-March is like the busy period of School with pretty much everything done in February. I mean I have to do a physics paper, two world lits, History IA, French oral, late February/early march. Ick. And let me tell you: High Level Math SUCKS. Evil, evil, evil. I used to like Math until Calculus and HL math. I love the Teacher but it's HL math so…the only reason I don't totally hate that class more than I do is I have an awesome nice teacher who even was one of the people who wrote a college recommendation and wrote glowing praises of me. She's just awesome. But ugh…math and just school in general just kills your soul.

She pulled onto the bumpy side road and after 10 or so minutes was beginning to wonder if coming here was such a good idea. Trees lined the edges and the edges were overgrown. It didn't look like people came down this way much except for a couple tracks that looked fairly recent. She began to wonder if maybe she misjudged and Alejandro actually turned out to be a serial killer luring her out here where no one would find her as he strangled the life out of her body or cut her into pieces or hold her down…she shook her head trying to clear the doubts. Her mother always said she had too much imagination and suspicions about people. Maybe so, but she was justified because she had a tendency to attract freaks and she seriously hoped this wasn't going to be another one. The forest edges thinned and she drove into a clearing and up a dirt path road and stopped as she saw a large gate covering the path. She got out and examined it. What the heck? She stiffened as she heard a voice call her name.

"Hey, who're you and what you're doing here?" yelled an angry voice. She looked up and saw a huge man striding towards her, a frown upon his face. Behind him came a running patter of footsteps and a small lady came from behind a rise and followed the big one.

"Jose wait!" she called. The man called Jose frowned and crossed his meaty arms over a quite sizeable belly and snorted. The small woman, who was about a foot shorter than Heather, stopped besides the man.

"Sorry about that. It's just strangers don't usually come here and Jose tends be somewhat impulsive. I'm his girlfriend Susannah. But I'm curious as to who you are and what you're doing here" the little woman smiled friendly at her and she was somewhat comforted. Although not much because the huge guy besides her, well not as huge as Alejandro who looking at did kind of look similar in a way, was glowering at her and if looks could kill, she'd probably be six feet under and rotting already. Heather shifted under the glare she was receiving and mumbled "I…was invited?". Susannah's face lit up.

"Oh! You must be Heather! Alejandro has been talking non-stop about you and how he invited a 'girl' over! He seems to really like you." Jose grunted and shook his head angrily but looked sheepish when Susannah thumped him on the chest.

"Come on, let her in." Jose, rather reluctantly she noted and with a frown in her direction, went to the gate and a control number and with surprising speed typed in the key code. With a screech, the gate swung open and the two stood back.

"Just drive up the road and in a few minutes you'll reach the end of the driveway. Just park there."

"Wow, these guys must be rich." Heather thought to herself surprised. She got back in the car and started driving up, a second car coming out from behind and following her. When she reached the end, she saw some cars already parked there in front of a sizeable house. While not the biggest or grandest she had ever seen and not quite a mansion, the house looked a lot like one and was more of a mansion than most houses. Lights were on inside and she wasn't sure what to do when the other car came to a stop besides hers and Susannah and Jose got out besides her.

"Well aren't you going in?" Susannah asked when she saw Heather standing there uncomfortable.

"Am I allowed too?" Heather asked.

"Of course, you were invited." Susannah smiled at her and nodded. "It is intimidating I must admit. But the Burromeurto's are really nice people. Snobby and condescending when you first meet them but when they get to know you, they really do make good friends. Jose huffed and Susannah reached up and squeezed his hand friendly and he bent over and started kissing her. Heather just stood there awkwardly. Okay…she really did not need to see that. But admittedly it was kind of cute and made Heather wish she had someone to do that with. Preferably Alejandro. But this was a bit too much for her to handle so taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked in.

There were a good number of people there all talking and when she entered the room a hush fell over everyone and became so silent you could hear a pin drop. Her footsteps felt rather loud as she entered and everybody's eyes were on hers, a mixture of curiosity, confusion, interest, dislike, neutral, superiority, etc on all their faces. She clearly stood out among them, the only white one there among those of a Hispanic or Mexican background. Feeling really awkward, she considered running away until a big cannonball of energy came out of nowhere and grabbed her in a big hug, squeezing the breath out of her.

"Heather, you came!" came the deeply excited squeal of the huge man holding her. Alejandro leaned his head over hers and grinned, his cute eyes flashing. Heather gurgled and made a slashing motion. Confused, Alejandro let go and Heather dropped, rubbing her throat and breathed in harshly.

"Couldn't…couldn't breath," she gasped out and Alejandro lowered his head.

"Sorry," he murmured sadly, looking all the world like a chastised puppy. A very, very big puppy.

"It's okay," she gasped out and was surprised when she found herself roughly yanked up and looking into Mohawk's glaring eyes. If she thought Jose wasn't happy to see her, Duncan was that to the power of ten. His glare was so intense she swore she would have spontaneously caught on fire had Alejandro not looked up and asked what Duncan was doing.

"Helping her up. What is she doing here?" Duncan gritted out, squeezing just enough that she could not escape and that it came just close to breaking it.

"I invited her and she came!" Alejandro said happily and Duncan's glare grew even more intensified against the back of Heather's shoulder-blades. If she wasn't sure Duncan had been into Alejandro before, she knew it now when she heard the surprised gasp. Duncan leaned closer and whispered into her ear, his voice gone deadly flat.

"Stay away from him if you know what's good for you. Or else things are going to get…ugly." Roughly pushing her away he gave a nod to Alejandro and stalked angrily out of the room, even his Mohawk hairs bristling. Alejandro noticed Heather rubbing her arm which hurt quite a bit.

"Oh my gosh, Heather! I'm sorry! Mama said not to do that to people and that it sometimes hurts them when you squeeze." Alejandro babbled. She nodded her head, beginning to wonder if this was worth it. Clearly Mohawk dude wanted him and she wasn't certain if he was entirely stable and going to really like anyone else taking him. But when she looked at Alejandro she felt her heart skip a beat. So what if he wasn't the most intelligent? He was gorgeous and he really seemed to like and be worried about her, running soothing rubs into her injured arm as he continued to overly apologize.

"It's fine, it's fine. Next time just don't squeeze so hard." Heather said and he cocked his head happily.

"Okay!" he bounced off and looked at her, smiled, and started saying hello to all the others in a rapid Spanish which again, Heather didn't understand a word of. She could feel all the eyes on her but when she turned around, they all seemed to be looking at anything but her, talking to each other. She would have thought she was just being paranoid, but every now and then, she saw the quickest flicker of movement as people shifted away from her which proved she wasn't. Okay then, if they wanted to do that then fine. One of them detached anrd walked towards her, the one Alejandro just talked to and looked her over. A man in his early 40s, he had the features she was beginning to identify with the Burromeurto's: a feeling of bigness, superiority, and disconnect. She definitely understood what Susannah said about the arrogance in all of them but Alejandro and even then somewhere inside him knew he was special. Hence the sashaying movement of his fine hips as he almost model walked subconsciously. Or she was just looking too much into things. But anyways the older guy rubbed his spectacles and looked at her, rubbing a hand through his still mostly black but somewhat graying hair and gave her a way too friendly smile.

"Hello, I understand you're Heather? A friend my nephew Alejandro invited? My name's Julio and this is my wife Carly," he said nodding at another female who had just joined them. Carly looked like a model with her beautifully done hair, gorgeous eyes, smile, and big…um assets. Admittedly, Heather was a little jealous. Carly smiled at her.

"Hi. So you're the famous Heather. Alejandro had been non-stop talking about you today when he surprised us all by saying he invited a guest, especially one who was a girl. He gets a little shy you know around strangers and tongue-tied. The only person he has ever been comfortable with outside the family, heck inside the family that he hasn't grown comfortable with, is Duncan Evans. They're really close." Heather swore she recognized the name Duncan Evans from somewhere but she was still drawing a blank. But she knew she knew it from somewhere and that she saw that annoying Mohawk from somewhere, alebit maybe in a different color. Carly smiled at her and she smiled hesitantly back, feeling Julio's eyes watching her. What was it with these people? All the males outside of Alejandro looked at her with suspicions cast and even many of the females looked uncertain except Susannah and Carly. Another tall strapping male approached her around Alejandro's age and looking similar except much taller in height and much leaner and not nearly as bulky. Blue eyes glittered as he offered his hand.

"I'm Carlos, one of Alejandro's older brothers. I've heard you met Jose? He is the oldest of all of us."

"I'm Heather," she said shaking his outstretched hand. A smile ghosted across his lips and Heather smiled back.

"Such a pretty girl," Carlos murmured smiling. "I play soccer. Do you want to watch me sometime?" He looked at her and moved his head closer until…

"Hey Heather!" Alejandro came by, a smile upon his face, falling a little as he saw Carlos leaning a bit too close to Heather. That wasn't fair, Heather was his friend! He pulled Heather a little back and saw the disappointment cross Carlos's face which confused him. He turned to Heather.

"So you're liking everyone?" he asked her excitedly.

"Uh…sure," she replied and Alejandro smiled.

"Oh goody! I'm sure they'll all grow to love you as well!"

"I guess so," Heather whispered feeling the eyes all on her again, especially Carlos's which were beginning to look a little too friendly. Alejandro lead her to a room were all the women were cooking dinner and stopped in front of one who was stirring some sort of soup while others were chopping vegetables and skinning a chicken.

"Hello mommy, I got Heather to meet you! Heather, this is mommy!" Alejandro said proudly to the woman who was comically small compared to her massive son. Of course being only slightly taller, Heather probably didn't look that much better next to him but he was just a big teddy bear. She realized all the Burromeurto men were huge in some way. Carlos was gigantically tall that towered over everyone, Jose was definitely more of a bear with massive muscles (still not as big as Alejandro's but pretty close) and a gut, and Alejandro had almost freaky superhuman but attractive muscles and abs. Julio and the others she had seen were fairly attractive as well but couldn't compare and Duncan was Duncan and didn't count. Plus, he hated her and had a crush on Alejandro. She wondered when her life had become some soap opera since she liked Alejandro, Alejandro didn't get it and saw her as a friend, Duncan had it out for her now and she still knew she knew him from somewhere before, Carlos might be having a crush on her, and she still had terrible luck. The woman looked up at her and Heather was surprised to find her kind of plain looking. Not that she was terrible to look at, not at all, but she had the kind of looks that were kind of pretty but…not really. Just average and plain. Heather grudgingly admitted she had started to expect all of these people to look almost inhumanly beautiful and that had been quite true with Carly, Carlos, Alejandro, and some of the others she hadn't met. And if not like that then much more attractive than normal humans like Julio and Susannah. As terrible as it sounded, she couldn't compute how such a plain looking women had such massive freaky gifted children. As if hearing her thoughts, Mama frowned and a clever smile passed her lips and for a second Heather could see the same Burromeurto attractiveness.

"Hello, you must be…Heather." She said almost disdainfully. Alejandro didn't notice and smiled.

"This is the girl I was talking about! Isn't she pretty mama? Isn't she?"

"Oh yes sweetheart. Duncan is waiting for you in the parlor. Why don't you go play with him? Me and Heather have to have a little chat." Alejandro smiled and hugged his mom who was only tall enough to reach partway up his chest and kissed her.

"Have fun," Alejandro smiled and left the room. Mrs. Burromeurto waved goodbye and then turned back to Heather, the smile gone replaced by a look of suspicion and dislike. She no longer looked very plain and in fact seemed to be taller though she hadn't really grown. The other women were backing out of the room leaving Heather and Mrs. Burromeurto privacy. Heather swallowed nervously as Mrs. Burromeurto came up and poked her and began speaking.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama or any associated characters. OCs such as Susannah and Eli are mine though.

Author's Note: Chapter 3. Some Duncan backstory, some Duncan/Alejandro, some overprotective mother-ness, some jealous Heather (sorry, jealous Heather is fun), some Susannah/Jose (yay for OC couples), and random "manly" contests and fetishes.

"Go fish," Duncan said and Alejandro pouted as he picked up a card. Duncan smiled at that sight. Alejandro really was adorable. Sure he played little kid games-because really, Go Fish?-but secretly Duncan enjoyed it. He never got to play many of those when he was younger and he was sad to have missed it. His parents had always been busy and he only had one older brother that stole all of his parents' love. Perfect Eli had to be good at everything and everything Duncan did, he got one upped. If he got a B, Eli got an A. If he placed in a contest, Eli swept the competition. When he played a sport and was team captain (for all of a day), Eli swooped in and won everybody over. It hadn't been fair. Duncan had tried hard to like his brother, he had. But Eli treated him with contempt, mocking and making fun of him. He told Duncan he was ashamed to have "such a loser for a brother. Couldn't he do anything right?" That was after Duncan tried to make him a present but accidentally broke one of Eli's special toys when he was 7. His parents treated Eli like an angel and asked Duncan why he couldn't have been more like his brother. He took their advice and tried but it hadn't worked. He had tried to be smart, tried to be cool, tried to get their attention but no matter what it was always Eli, Eli, Eli. He really hated Eli, still does to this day. Although he supposed he had some things Eli didn't which were determination, hard work, which came later, guts, and having a true friend. That and a studly muscular body, he doubted Eli could ever dream of having one like his, Duncan thought as he flexed his right bicep and watched it peak. He sometimes wondered what Eli was doing, if only to hope he was drowning in failure somewhere. He supposed wishing ill on someone was a sin and a terrible thing, but Eli deserved it.

"Your turn Duncan," Alejandro said and Duncan looked up into those beautiful green eyes. Alejandro was beautiful, with the long dark brown almost black hair, those adorable eyes that shone brilliantly at everything, the child spirit inside that one hell of a fine body, and Duncan was going to be damned if he was going to let that Heather chick take him away. He had been there first and Alejandro was HIS friend, not hers. He didn't like at all the excitement Alejandro had in talking about her. Not one little bit. If Heather made any move towards stealing his man, he would show her. He didn't know what exactly, but he would do something. If she knew what was good for her, she would stay away.

"Got any 5s?" Duncan asked lowly as he took a swig of Dr. Pepper.

"Go Fish." Duncan smiled as he picked up a card.

Back in the kitchen, Heather looked up as Mrs. Burromeurto's demeanor changed and was no longer in nice mode. Now she looked suspicious and disgusted to see Heather. The women, barely taller than Heather, made Heather feel tiny under the cold scrutinizing gaze of mother bear. All the Burromeurtos' had fearsome death and soul piercing glares, Heather was almost impressed if they would only stop looking at her like that. But scariest glare award goes to Mama Burro although Mohawk Duncan came in a very close second she supposed.

"What did you show or offer my son that he would bring a whore into my house?" Mrs. Burromuerto asked icily. Heather gaped at her, stunned. She couldn't believe what Mrs. Burromuerto just said. Mrs. Burromuerto didn't even know her so why would she accuse her of being a whore? She most certainly wasn't and Heather was especially offended at the judgmental tone in Mrs. Burromeurto's voice.

"For your information I am not and I don't know why you would even think that." Heather replied frostily back, the rage driving back any fear she had.

"You know exactly what I mean. You must have shown or done something to get him to invite you. Because there is no way a girl that we have never even heard about mentioned until today would win Alejandro over so quickly that they would manage to grab an invitation to go to his very special birthday party. In fact, the last time we had anyone outside the family who attended Alejandro's birthdays are…never, outside of Duncan. So for you to get my baby boy to invite you, you must have done something. So what was it? Did you get him drunk, did you offer to strip down for him, did you offer to let him touch your dirty whoring body? You must have. So what is it you want? Do you want to have sex with my son or are you just using him for money or is it both? You're hoping for an easy mark and to take advantage of my son's…uniqueness is a dirty and underhanded trick, taking advantage of his innocence." Heather was absolutely stunned.

"You misunderstand. I didn't do any of that and I am not using your son to try to con you or whatever it is you think I'm doing. I just want to be friends (for now, Heather amended in her head, although she certainly wouldn't mind Alejandro doing that) with him and Alejandro legitimately invited me. I only met him recently and I didn't even know or expect to be invited to his birthday party. I also didn't know you guys were rich and I would never use him for money. I don't know why you think I would do any of this stuff." Mrs. Burromuerto looked at Heather suspiciously, scanning her face for signs of falsehood. Finding none, Mrs. Burromuerto huffed.

"Fine, I guess you can stay…for now. But I will be watching you. I will not allow you to hurt my son and a girl like you eventually will." Heather rolled her eyes at the women's stubbornness.

"I'm not going to hurt him but fine, watch away. I want nothing more than for him to be happy." Mrs. Burromuerto nodded in agreement.

"As do I," she warned and turned back to continuing preparing the large birds as the other kitchen help came back in, all of whom had been outside the door eavesdropping, naturally. They all carefully looked away from Heather for the most part except for Susannah who gave her a sympathetic glance and smile of encouragement. Heather knew she had liked her.

Dinner was…interesting, to say the least. Considering the number of relatives that were over, there were two tables, one for the adults who spent the time catching up when not speaking to the special man, and one for the younger kid-adult whatever. The young adults at any rate. So Heather ended up at a table with Alejandro, Duncan, Jose, Carlos, and a couple of younger children who were loud and liked to play with Alejandro and Duncan, two little boys and a girl whose names were Pedro, Juan, and Maria. Susannah also sat there next to her huge boyfriend. Heather had hoped to be able to talk to Alejandro but every time she opened her mouth, she seemed to get interrupted either by one of the little kids deciding to randomly butt in and say or yell something or want to climb and feel Mt Alejandro, Duncan, or Jose, Duncan swooping in and start talking about whatever in guy tongue about sports or other" manly" things he didn't let Heather contribute anything of into, Alejandro leaving to go to the bathroom once when people were finally beginning to settle, having to watch Jose and Susannah make goo-goo eyes and noises at each other as she fed him, it was enough to want to make her rip her hair out in frustration. Usually she had better patience but it was wearing thin what with the scene in the kitchen, the way Duncan kept throwing her hate glares, the way she felt people were talking about her behind her back and she wasn't being paranoid about that, they really were, the noise, etc. It also didn't help that Carlos kept smiling at her creepily. Well, okay, maybe it is a bit harsh to call it creepy, but it was weird. She supposed she felt bad a little. Carlos wasn't all that bad looking and she might have gone for him although after meeting Alejandro…but if things didn't work out, she supposed it might be possible. Might. But she was not in the mood right now.

Other interesting events of note were the very random, although apparently traditional, contests the young males participated in. One thing Heather learned? Move back or have an umbrella should she ever witness one because once the food eating competition started, there was no talking, and food sprayed everywhere. Another good piece of advice would be don't get between them and the food as she almost got chomped or yelled at a couple times until she moved back where Susannah and the females and those not participating watched. It was mainly a their table thing with the adults acting as spectator cheerleaders as they bet on who was going to win. Unsurprisingly, Jose won the food eating competition although interestingly Duncan and Alejandro came very close, Duncan just slightly behind and Alejandro trailing. But watching them eat like that made Heather jealous because it was so unfair that they could eat like that with almost no consequences, well maybe not for Jose who certainly looked well fed, but Duncan and Alejandro, so not fair. If she ate like that, she'd put on weight so fast and that was how she had been fat before. Normally she didn't regret it but right now watching that spectacle was irritating. Stupid boy metabolisms although it did make sense considering the amount of fuel that had to be necessary to keep bodies like theirs running…but still, so not fair. The dessert had looked and been particularly yummy. At least there was some that had been set aside for the non-competitors.

Next had been the old classic chugging and burping contest. Disgusting, gross, and totally a man's idea of entertainment, Heather would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching it, even Mohawk Duncan who was a pro. All these contents were of course between the older ones Alejandro, Duncan, Jose, Carlos, etc although the little ones sure had fun participating. But anyhow, Duncan was the winner of that one in both chugging and the follow-up which went on so long that she had been impressed (as well as deeply disturbed) despite herself. How they even had room for soda chug was surprising as well although Jose passed on the drink not needing it, coming in third after Duncan and Alejandro. She had been especially thrilled with Alejandro's performance which had been really good and quite a turn on. Course after this and the last contest, none of them were able to really stand at this point and were lying on the ground and rubbing their aching bloated stomachs, moaning. Again, this excited Heather who did happen to have a bit of a fetish for this. Heather was really tempted to rub Alejandro's belly, for multiple reasons, but that would be a bit pushing it and not a good time to do so because between Duncan who although down still would figure out a way to make her pay for that probably, but Alejandro's mom and everyone else…there were too many people anyhow. Susannah had no such worries though as she massaged Jose whose stomach rumbled loudly in digestion. Heather wondered how many times she was going to feel jealous before the night was out.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or associated character's. I only own Alejandro's Family.

Author's Note: Another chapter, Duncan and Heather have a little chat.

"Well, time to get going," Carly said after a little while when things quieted down at last. "Me and Julio have a very important client to see tomorrow and we can't be late for our flight. But it was nice to see you all again," she said as she hugged Carlos and Mr. and Mrs. Burromuerto and ruffled the hair of the two sleeping giants on the floor.

"It was also nice to meet you Heather, it is rare that we get normal people." Normally, that would have sounded terrible and insulting but from the way Carly was smiling at her, she knew there was no offense meant there. Unlike the glower Mrs. Burromuerto threw her when Carly said that. What did she do that offended her so? She had absolutely no clue, especially after that scene in the kitchen. Yowch, mama bear had claws. She just hoped that she could convince Mrs. Burromuerto she wasn't a terrible person as she hated when people thought that. Still, this was clearly going to be a piece of work.

"Goodbye Carly," said Mrs. Burromuerto as she embraced her and her brother Julio. "Do make sure to come visit again sooner next time, it's been so long since the last time." Julio laughed.

"Of course sis. It's always a blast at your place," he said, winking roguishly as he and Carly hurried out the door and Carlos and the two Burromuerto's waved goodbye. Soon started a whole stream of people leaving and saying goodbye and 'we'll miss you' and 'see you for the holidays' and so on and so forth. Soon the house was empty except for: her, Carlos, the two Burromuerto's, Susannah, and three sleeping giants sprawled around, one on the couch and two on the floor (and how Jose even fit on the couch was questionable and Heather wondered how much the couch could take before collapsing).

"Don't you think it's time for you to be going too?" asked Mrs. Burromuerto, settling icy eyes on Heather. Heather sighed as she stood up.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thank you for the wonderful dinner and evening. I really enjoyed it."

"Hmph, fine." Mr. Burromuerto leaned down to say something yet Mrs. Burromuerto yanked his ear and whispered something in it that shut him up. It was pretty clear who was in charge of the household. Carlos tried to wrap his arms around her but she wiggled out and under from beneath them.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" she asked. He blushed as he scrambled for some reason to say.

"Just…just giving you a goodbye hug. A goodbye hug, that is all. Yep, nothing but a hug goodbye." Heather rolled her eyes at that response. Susannah got up then and hugged her a real goodbye hug.

"It was nice meeting you Heather," she said. "You seem very nice and I do hope you come back so me and Duncan aren't the only ones who aren't related here. He isn't very much fun to be around with in my opinion." Score! Someone else who wasn't a total fan of that creep!

"It was really nice meeting you too," she replied as the smaller woman hugged her. If it wasn't for the total love-fests that she had seen when she first came and during dinner, during which she almost wanted to puke since there was way too much of both dinner and love festing and weirdness, she still would wonder why she was with the giant Jose. It had to be pretty awkward at times with such a small person and someone who was so…large. But it was kind of adorable. Not quite her type but hey, if they're happy, who was to judge? Susannah smiled and waved goodbye as Heather went out the door, feeling everyone's eyes on her. Getting into her car, she turned around and drove out.

The next day, she slept through her alarm and well into the afternoon. Man was she exhausted. Her parents got a bit worried and had to check to make sure she hadn't died because she never slept late. So they were quite surprised to find her still asleep in bed at twelve in the afternoon.

"Honey, do you think she's alright? She never sleeps in, ever. She always gets up at 6 and it's past noon now."

"Must have been quite some party. Hey, are you alright pumpkin?" her dad asked. Heather groaned and waved her hand at them to go away, she was sleeping.

"If there is anything you need…" her mom continued.

"I knoooow mom, just let me sleep!" Heather grumbled and at least mom looked abashed as she and dad crept out of the room so not to disturb her.

She finally woke around 4, man she had been asleep for a long time!, and went through the house looking for mom or dad. There was a note for her on the counter that said they were going out late on some business dinner and that there was frozen dinner in the fridge or money to order something in case if she didn't want that as well as all the telephone numbers to delivery places. It ended with the classic "love you sweetheart" with pink heart stickers which was a habit of her mom's which she could never figure out. Oh well. She looked around wondering what to do. She wasn't particularly hungry yet and nothing seemed to be on tv when she flipped through the channels. She decided to go to the gym again to see if Sex God Alejandro (although she'd die of embarrassment to say that out loud, especially since he probably wouldn't even get it) would be there. However, when she went, he wasn't there but per her luck, Mohawk Duncan was. She tried to sneak back out but he saw her and caught up to her.

"So if it isn't you," he said, not particularly friendly.

"Yeah it's me," she replied back in a deadpan.

"What are you doing here again?" he asked.

"Same as you, working out," she replied. "Probably what you should too to work off that belly of yours from that dinner last night," she said poking him in the belly which was bigger than yesterday. He just smirked.

"I'm not afraid of a little weight, unlike you anorexic girl. I'm not even close to Jose in that department. And do you even see these guns?" he asked, flexing his massive arms. Heather did have to admit she was again impressed even if she wanted to slap him silly and sew his cocky mouth shut and throw him down a well somewhere.

"Yeah, well steroids are bad for you meathead. And they shrink your dick." Heather said as she flounced off leaving a stunned Duncan behind whose mouth actually dropped open. She was surprised and pleased with herself for getting the last word. 'That'll show him,' she thought. Plus, his stunned ox expression was priceless. He's probably still standing there, catching flies. Curious, she turned around and she was actually right. He was still standing there shocked so she gave him a little wave and flounced off again, reveling in the hate filled glare he sent her which was losing effect.

Duncan ground his teeth and moved back inside. Why that little…he started calling her all the bad names and words in his head he knew which was quite an exhaustive list. He was going to teach that stupid bitch some manners. No one insults him like that! Resisting the urge to go and find her and make her take it back, he angrily punched the punching bag so hard it flew across the room and everyone looked at him.

"What?" he yelled and they all looked away quickly and returned back to what they were doing, sneaking glances at him when they thought he couldn't notice. But he noticed. He felt shakes starting to come across him and he knew it was time to go. He quickly went outside and angrily paced around where no one can see him. His ironclad control was starting to unravel and it was all because of her. Somehow, she just managed to just really piss him off when he had been doing so well with getting his anger under control. Now she was just pushing his buttons and made him want to do things he hadn't done ever since he went in for therapy for his anger management. First she was trying to steal Alejandro from him and then she just insulted him! She was like all the others, like those snobby girls who look down on everyone and make their lives miserable. If he had felt any guilt over his instant dislike of her, which too be honest he hadn't, but if he had had any reason to remorse, that was over. She did not know what she had just done. But he wasn't going to get mad, no. Like the therapist said, don't let the anger control you, control the anger. No, he was going to make her regret ever meeting Alejandro and seducing him. If she was going to mess with the wolf in his den, the wolf will destroy her. He grinned, flashing teeth. Oh yes, she was going to regret it. Whistling, he finished shaking and walked back in the gym to complete his interrupted routine, ignoring the looks people gave him. They could look all they want and get a good show out of it. Raising his arms he theatrically started curling a heavier weight than anyone in there basking in the envious and adoring stares as he stretched. Everyone in there wanted him or wanted to be him. Everyone elsewhere did as well. Clearly the stupid girl was of no threat. And once his plans go into motion, she won't be around for much longer anyhow. It was good. It was all…good….

Yawning, Alejandro opened his eyes and looked around. It seemed everyone was gone. He quickly stood up and wandered down feeling hungry despite the night before and gnawed on some leftover chicken as he wondered what to do next. Carlos was probably playing soccer and uh…he looked outside. Oh. The sun was going down. That means he slept a very long time. Duncan had probably already gone to the gym in town to workout today although Alejandro didn't get why when they had a better one here. Least Duncan usually stayed here except on this day of the week. So that means he was coming back soon. He was right because as soon as he stepped outside he saw Duncan's shiny motorbike thing come revving up and Duncan tossing off his helmet.

"Duncie!" Alejandro cried as he ran up to greet him and gave him a big hug which Duncan returned enthusiastically. Alejandro loved hugging Duncan and his brothers since there were the only ones big enough that he didn't accidentally hurt. Not everyone appreciated his hugs and Duncan did so the most. Hugs were nice. Duncan smiled at him and he smiled back happy Duncie was happy. He seemed kind of unhappy the last two days whenever he mentioned his new friend Heather but it seemed he was back to normal.

"I missed you," Alejandro said and Duncan patted his head playfully.

"I was only gone a few hours and you were asleep the whole time. You didn't have time to miss me silly."

"So? I still missed you," Alejandro replied stubbornly and Duncan gave an even wider smile at that. Duncan gave him another hug which Alejandro gladly accepted enjoying Duncan's nice thoughtfulness of brushing his hair at the same time. His mom always did that when his head got messy and she wasn't around right now to do it. Duncan leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "We'll always be together" and Alejandro nodded his head rapidly.

"Yes we will. You're my bestest friend" and Duncan grinned widest.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Alejandro, Duncan, Heather, or any Total Drama Characters

Heather woke with a start, her eyes glancing around. She had the strangest feeling of being watched yet everything seemed as it should. There was no one there yet she felt something. Quickly spinning around, she was surprised to see nothing there. Crossing the room to the window, she opened it, letting the night air in as she scanned the lawn. Still nothing. Maybe she was just being paranoid, although she swore there was something she was missing, something not right. But nothing was out of place or disturbed. Shrugging, she crossed the bed and went back to sleep.

Duncan traced a finger down the sleeping Alejandro, admiring every contour and curve of his body. It was a masterpiece of beauty with the purest heart. What was he besides this magnificence? His friend, love, savior, he owed him and his family everything. And he was not going to let that girl take it from him. She just had to stumble into their lives when everything was perfect, well almost perfect but it was approaching there and probably would have happened sooner or later. He clenched his fist trembling and shaking. Even his control was slipping away from him now and regressing back to his infantile adolescent earlier state of impulsiveness. He cursed her name and everything about her. Everything about her set off his possessive and jealous nature and he admitted he was jealous of Alejandro's affections for her. It had never been so bad before with others since Alejandro didn't care, but now that Alejandro had such keen interest, it was really pissing him off. Alejandro suddenly grabbed him in a hug and for a second Duncan thought he was actually awake until Alejandro mumbled something about fluffy unicorns as he pet his hair before letting go and rolling over. Sometimes, Duncan had to wonder what went through his head but whatever, it was cute and it was his. He sighed as he leaned back, crossing his arms. All his muscle, all his strength and conviction, and yet he could never hold onto what mattered. But even so, he was going to do the best he could in whatever way was necessary to keep what he had and not lose it and be alone again. Anything but the loneliness.

Heather woke up feeling good. Despite the uncertainty during the night, everything was fine and the day dispelled any lingering doubts she had as she put them to the back of her mind. Actually humming, she went down to breakfast with a smile on her face actually scaring her parents.

"Oh honey, are you feeling alright?" her mom asked, checking her temperature. Heather nodded.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" she asked confused. Her mom looked at her dad and then back at her.

"Because you're happy, so happy you're even humming that song you always say you hate because it is so darn cheerful and full of pep." Heather rolled her eyes.

"Am so not," she said walking away, unconsciously humming it. Heather's mom looked at her dad.

"You don't think….?"

"I do. I don't know what else it could be."

"She must really like this guy, Ale-what's his name. She usually doesn't like boys."

"Understandable, considering the last stalkers she had. I don't care who it is as long as it's not another one of those nutcases. More power to them."

"Do you think we should be worried though?"

"No, just let the situation fall as it may. Just be ready with the police on speed dial though, just in case. But I do think Heather is a good judge on character now."

"If you say so honey," Heather's mom said a bit worriedly.

"Relax, everything is going to be all right. After Heather dumps this guy, we'll go out to the movies and have ice-cream like always, you'll see."

Alejandro was in a very good mood that day which made Duncan relax. Just a day of hanging out with his best bud and Alejandro was racing ahead and acting like a puppy, then doubling back and waiting for him to catch up. Duncan just felt like enjoying the sun and the total lack of responsibility. Just him, Alejandro…his mood quickly became overcast and he looked up at the sky for a second actually expecting it to match with a stormy wind and thunder and lightning. What was she doing there? She looked quite shocked as well and Alejandro was stunned and then excited, racing up to meet her. Forcing his teeth into what he hoped could sort of pass for a smile although definitely was a frozen grimace, he followed.

"What are you doing here?" Alejandro asked excitedly, bouncing on his toes.

"Going for a walk," she said.

"That's what me and Duncie are doing too! How weird is that? Wanna walk with us?" Duncan, who had been making hand cutting motions to try to get Alejandro to not invite her felt like banging his head against a tree repeatedly. Or rather Heather, which would have been even better. Even when they weren't planning to hang out with her and it was just going to be the two of them, she came and ruined it. Cursing her yet again, he sourly followed the two of them as they walked ahead.

Heather felt on top of the world. She had a good feeling about going to the park and here the reason was. Honestly, she had no idea Alejandro even came to this park, especially when their house was surrounded by woodland but then again, it didn't look particularly inviting to go that way on foot. She could already feel the waves of jealousy rolling out from behind her and she looked around to see an angry Duncan following them. She was glad Alejandro was nearby because she had the feeling that if she was ever by herself now around Duncan, he would attack her. There was no reason to think that except for the way Duncan's shoulders tightened and he tensed as a tight as a tightly wound string that would snap at any second. Feeling saucy though, she pointed to Alejandro and then at her and watched him boil, and she swore there was smoke coming out of his ears as he ground his teeth even more and visibly held himself from launching at her.

Looking back, she saw Alejandro looking at her, waiting for her to say something. Her mouth dried up, seeing the way he stood as he waited for an answer with those bright luminescent eyes staring right into her and she was falling…

"Wha?" She asked stupidly as Alejandro moved and the spell was broken. Duncan had reached them and even he was looking at her strangely.

"I said are you okay?" Alejandro asked worried. "You didn't seem to hear me and then you just made this really weird face all of a sudden. Do you need water?" Heather shook her head dazedly.

"No…" she cracked and swallowed. "No I'm okay, just feeling a little woozy all of a sudden."

"Well, then you should have some water. Everyone should have water on a hot day like this." Alejandro leaned down and took out his big bottle of water he carried everywhere.

"Come on Heather, open…" Duncan suddenly snatched it.

"I'll do it," he said, opening it and forcefully shoved it in her mouth, taking her by complete surprise. Choking, she tried to yank away but couldn't as Duncan yanked her forward into it and dumped even more in. She spluttered and flailed against him, unable to throw him and she was seeing spots until Alejandro took the water bottle back.

"That's too much water," he said. "It was hurting her." Duncan breathed heavily for a second then leaned back.

"Of course, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help." Duncan said, flashing a reassuring grin.

"It's okay, just use less water next time," Alejandro said, nodding as he repeated something that sounded smart. Duncan nodded amicably.

"Of course," he said. "Everyone makes mistakes." Heather wasn't sure of it since she was still catching her breath but it sounded like not so much of an agreement as a hint of irritation. Irritation his plan did not work? That seemed the furthest thing away from an accident, especially the way he seemed to hold her there and shove the water roughly into her throat…she could have died. Was he desperate or angry enough to actually want to kill her? No doubt he hated her but to get rid of her? Panting, she looked at him and he looked at her. Nothing in his posture or eyes gave a hint to what he was thinking or feeling at this instant although if she had to guess, probably upset she hadn't drowned, whether he had anything to do with it or not. Alejandro looked back and forth for a second then darted off.

"Wait!" she called. "Don't leave me alone with-" too late, he was already gone. Reluctantly she turned and looked at Duncan whose mouth had suddenly set and looked very dangerous. Gone was the restrained façade, he definitely wanted to hurt her at least now. She turned to run but he reached out and grabbed her. Yanking, he reeled her into his grasp and they were face to face.

"I'm warning you for the last time. Leave. Alejandro. Alone. He's mine and you don't deserve him. You don't deserve anything of his you whore. You don't even deserve to be in his presence and the fact that he tolerates it is proof of whatever spell you cast on him." She stopped struggling for a second and laughed.

"The heck? You seriously believe I'm a witch with magic powers who cast a spell on Alejandro? How dumb are you to believe such nonsense?" Duncan's eyes narrowed and she saw she made a mistake as she saw the heat flash go through and him start to squeeze. Of course, he was more than easily strong enough to snap her like a twig and she almost did before suddenly there was a crash and the pressure was released. Gasping, she looked up and saw Alejandro and Duncan yelling at each other and throwing wild hand gestures and for once, Alejandro didn't look all that happy or playful. He looked deadly and Duncan realized it too for it was clear he was becoming a bit panicked. She moved closer to hear what was being said.

"-But I was just giving her a hug, no reason to be upset." Duncan said wildly. "She threw herself on me and…"

"But you don't like each other very much. You guys don't talk or have fun like I do with both of you so that doesn't even make sense," Alejandro said, squinting his eyes and reasoning it out slowly. "She wouldn't do that and neither would you so what were you doing then?"

"He tried to kill me," Heather said. "Again. First with the water and just now by crushing. He seemed to be convinced I was a witch that has you under a spell." Alejandro looked at her alarmed.

Are you?" he asked and Duncan hopped back in the opening.

"Si, she must and you like her so much. When have you ever just liked someone like that? She came waltzing in our lives and I think she must have hexed you when you guys bumped into each other at the gym." Alejandro looked even more worried and Duncan pushed his advantage. "And then you invited her to your party and she's spreading lies about me. She knew where we were today and she's trying to steal you from me. She thinks bad things about you and told them to me what she was going to do as she uses you as her servant."

"What the hell are you on? Spreading lies about you? Casting spells and witchcraft? You're just jealous Alejandro can like and want to be with somebody who isn't you because you're nothing without him. Besides, if I was a witch, I would have done more than just hex you but you're clearly off your rocker and out of your mind."

"Why you little-" Duncan snarled and leapt at her, slamming her to the ground as he leaned over her. He raised his arm to strike when another large body knocked him to the side. There was a lot of scuffling noises as fists and legs were swung but soon Alejandro had Duncan pinned to the ground, Duncan looking shocked and tears formed in his eyes.

"Why? Why her? I'm your friend and we were happy. We have so much fun together. What can she do that I can't? And I love you, don't you see? I would do anything for you." Alejandro lowered his head bashfully.

"Duncie.." he started then stopped. "I can't…I can't…I like both of you guys. But there's something about her. But you're my bestest friend. Why would you hurt her? Friends don't hurt other friends." Duncan turned his head and spat.

"She is not my friend. I don't like her and she is just using you. I'm protecting you because I know her type. All women, except your mom, are treacherous whores who take your heart and break it, shatter it into tiny pieces. That happened to me and I will not let it happen to you and it will happen with her because that is what all girls are like. You just don't understand having lived in your house with mainly males and a couple of the decent sort of female that don't suffer from the disease that infects most of them. That girl Heather, she gives me the same feeling that all girls do. And she needs to be punished for it."

"But I just can't let you do that. She didn't do anything." Alejandro said confused. Duncan growled.

"She has! She's breaking us all apart! She's stealing you from me and you're letting her get you in her greasy dirty grubby hands! But all she wants is your money and to control you and fuck you because you are beautiful and innocent! She knows that you're easy to please and manipulate and knowing you as the big stupid dolt has wrapped you around her finger!"

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to trick you." Heather looked down at the prone figure whose eyes blazed angrily into hers. "I feel sorry for you and that you got burned by females in the past causing you to hate them all. But you're not the only victim here. I have had unfortunate luck all my life and had been made fun of when I was overweight and otherwise. People were cruel and went out of their way to make my life miserable. It got so bad that we moved out of town to find somewhere nobody knew us and have only just now come back to this one. All men in my life with the exception of my dad have turned out to be creepy perverts, stalkers, and messed up and Alejandro is the only one who likes me and wasn't secretly screwing my friend or selling my underwear online or stalking me from the bushes. I have experienced bad things too and I am sorry for you but I don't pity you. You have bad things, I have bad things, but I don't act like a monster and go berserk or try to hurt others. It isn't the bad things in life that ruin you but how you react to them." Duncan stared at her, his chest rising and falling as he looked past Alejandro and it was just her and him.

"Fat Heather," he said and a cruel smile crossed his face. "My, you've lost some weight. Bet your fatass doesn't shake for all them boys no more? No wonder I despised you on sight acting all innocent and cute. But you're nothing more than a greedy gluttonous pig. I finally recognize you and those jugs. How long has it been, 5 years? A lot has changed since then. Do you recognize me?"

She looked at him for a second confusedly for a second and then she did. It was Duncan Evans, one of the major bullies that had picked on her so often that she had felt threatened enough to have to move away. Well, there certainly were a lot of changes since then but at the same time all that changed was he went from a little jerk to a muscle bound monster one with an irritatingly green Mohawk. She shook her head.

"Now I remember you, although I wish I didn't. You and that pack of wild animals made life a living hell for me. Do you know what it was like coming home everyday crying as you mercilessly pelted me with insults and frozen food beverages? I fucking hate you, hate you so much I wish I could kill you. But unlike you, I'm not going to stoop to attempting that level. What did I ever do to you that offended you so much that you had to bother me?"

"Many things, your very existence for one. I can't stand you. But if I had to specifically say, I would say when you said no when I asked you out and then you had to ask my stupid brother Eli out, like all the other floozies and bimbos. I had thought you had been different, special, that you didn't care about all those other jerks did. You were yourself and I had thought you were actually nice. But you, you called me a skinny weirdo freak. You accused me of being a liar and that I was trying to play a trick on you but I wasn't. And you played a nasty trick that humiliated me. You were a fat stupid cow and you deserved all you got. I would have gone even further had I got the chance." Duncan spat again. "Now let me up," he commanded to a panicky Alejandro who was looking between the two of them. "I have to finish her off." Alejandro frowned.

"No," he said. "You're not going to hurt Heather. If I let you up, you would hurt her."

"Let me up, please?" Duncan said coaxingly. "It is hurting me to have you lean on me like this." Alejandro chewed his lip uncertainly and then shook his head.

"No, not unless you leave Heather alone," he said decisively.

"Okay, okay," Duncan said a smile beginning to form. Heather saw and she rushed over.

"Don't let him-" Duncan threw Alejandro off and grabbed Heather.

"Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Then me and Alejandro could start all over, without you. We don't need you and you were a bad influence anyway." Struggling, Heather started seeing spots as he tightened his hold and nearly lost consciousness when Alejandro came at Duncan again and Duncan was forced to let go. Wiping his mouth, Duncan narrowed his eyes.

"I don't want to fight you, I never want to fight you. But you're making it difficult for me to do what needs to be done. Don't you understand? I love you and I'm doing this for us."

"But I don't want you to hurt Heather. I like her." Duncan growled and looked back at Heather and started to make his way back over to her when Alejandro's voice stopped him.

"If you hurt her now, I'll hate you forever. You won't be my friend anymore." Duncan stopped at looked at Alejandro, a hurt expression on his face.

"You don't mean that," he said pleadingly. "We're besties, brothers, family. We always will have each other's back." Alejandro shook his head solemnly.

"If you hurt her, I will hate you forever. You won't be my brother anymore." Duncan was devastated as he realized looking at his face that Alejandro was serious. Alejandro really would hate him if he killed Heather, and he could not stand Alejandro hating him. Duncan sighed and backed off.

"Fine, I won't hurt her. Let's just go…" Duncan was cut off.

"No, I don't want to go anywhere with you right now. I don't even want to see you. Come on Heather, let's go," Alejandro said taking her hand and leading her away. Duncan stood their shocked and miserable and the rain finally came down with the sound of thunder matching his mood as tears ran streaming down his face mixing with the rain. He was alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the associated characters from Total Drama.

Author's Note: New update, it sure has been a while. Opinions on Duncan: demon possessed, insane, both? Alejandro is such a cute man child and I am having fun with that and Heather is a bit confused. Just out of curiosity, what would a condition like Alejandro's be since at times he's a kid, at times he's almost out of it, at times he's actually his own age…not multiple personality but other.

Duncan stood there for a while until the rain became too cold and his tank was melded to him. He shivered a bit glad to have something to take his mind off the darker chill in his heart…beginning to feel it come back, he fought it off as he began walking, rubbing his arms for warmth and something to distract him. He absentmindedly made his way back to the gym which was strangely empty for once. It was the closest place available and it wasn't going to feel right to go to the Burromuerto's at this time to go to his and Alejandro's space. Al was mad at him and probably wouldn't like it very much for Duncan to go there, at least not for a few days. He stripped his rain-soaked clothes off and absent-mindedly sat down to one of the benches and started doing reps.

One of the very few, if not only things he could do to get rid of the anger and pain and other emotions was to exercise. Duncan always had trouble controlling his emotions and got mad, jealous, hurt, etc easily. It was supposedly due to his parents' horrible upbringing of him, or rather lack of it in their case and inadvertently teaching him the only way to get attention was to be extreme, at least according to his counselor. While the counselor didn't really know shit, at least in his opinion, he was pretty good at his job and anger control techniques, and not really all that far off which Duncan was loath to admit but grudgingly did. Also, he had been a part of the board that got him partially off the hook for mental incompetence, ie bouts of insanity, and to a partial jail partial mental hospital. The only reason however that he had such a trial instead of locked up for years in prison was because of Alejandro's dad and especially mom. Mrs. Burromuerto was a social worker and advocate for the abused and mentally ill, especially children and she somehow got a hold of his case and took a particular interest in it, her and her brother Julio and for reasons of their own, be it genuine altruism, righteous indignation, sense of moral obligation, or curiosity (and he honestly didn't care what the initial reason was), they took his case and managed to spring him. Especially when they proved his genuine disassociated personality or what he believed was his inner voice. For this among many other reasons like the Burromueto's taking him in, he will be forever grateful to the family.

They even gave him a labor job to repair their roof and trusted him. Him with the known reputation of quick pockets and even quicker fingers. They certainly did have a lot of valuable things although then again, it wasn't as if he could actually have gotten away with trying to steal something since they were so valuable and recognizable. Still they trusted him and treated him like…like family. As if he was special. It was honestly amazing since he never received such kindness ever. Even if he had acted surly and mean the first few weeks they liked him, Alejandro in particular. Alejandro had always been so positive and cheerful and was certainly easy on the eyes. Duncan whimpered a little, his hand almost slipping and he put the weights down. Thinking about Alejandro was not helping at all as it made him think of that horrid girl and that Alejandro took her side over his. His plan had backfired taking Alejandro to this place and scaring him off other people for good. Instead, they ran into the black haired wicked witch of the west and now Alejandro was enchanted by her and they had a fight and Alejandro probably no longer liked him. And now he couldn't even slip mindlessly into the rhythm of exercise and lift those heavy weights off that plagued him, the good and pleasant feeling of control and accomplishment…he got up and paced around, his limbs twitching with the need to hit something, anything. He passed by a mirror and stopped to look at it. He could hardly recognize himself. The narrowed untrusting eyes, the snarl and lip pulling of his teeth back, the small tremors that spun through him, he looked dangerous and crazy. Then again, he was which made him bark out a laugh at that, and readied himself to punch the mirror when the reflection changed. Stunned, Duncan stepped back as his reflection's eyes turned red and the teeth sharpened and changed size so it looked even bigger than him!

"No, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…" Duncan chanted as he clutched himself in a terror he hadn't felt in years. "Mommy, daddy, I need you…" he whimpered, unaware he had done so as the other him seemed to step through the mirror and come towards him and shrieked when the other him touched him and what felt like fire traveled through him and Duncan moaned. The other him just grinned and Duncan saw he/it had a forked tail that was wrapping around them.

"It's been a long time don't you think? It has been a while since you shut me out in the cold Duncan." Duncan shuddered as he pushed away and the other let him, just grinning showing its sharp pointed dagger-like teeth.

"You…you're not real. You're not real, you were never real," Duncan stammered out. "My counselor even said so and showed me that you're nothing but a construct…" Other him gave a low laugh that sounded eerily like his.

"Stop kidding yourself. You know I'm real and you know they were wrong when saying I didn't exist. Even those who were only partially right thought I would just go away with that ridiculous treatment you did." Duncan backed away to against the wall as his other came forward.

"I didn't appreciate being thrown out like that, after all I did for you? That's cruel, don't you think so?"

"I didn't need you anymore and you were bad," Duncan retorted and his other laughed in amusement.

"I'm bad? I think you're the one mixed up. I do nothing more than what you have always wanted deep down but were too bloody afraid you useless child. Mommy and daddy never loved you, not like their perfect Eli and Eli as you know was far from that as he was a nasty son of a gun wasn't he? When you showed them the bruises, they never believed they were from Eli. From where he pushed you down stairs, stomped on your hands, touched you…you're a liar, they're all self-inflicted. They said you hurt yourself to get attention, but we know that isn't true don't we? Perfect Eli got what he had coming, stepping in front of that car like that didn't he? We just helped him along to that point." Duncan shuddered and closed his eyes.

"No, I didn't push him, you did. It was all you. I had nothing to do with it."

"You wished for him to disappear forever for years, you begged and pleaded for it to stop, you saw your chance and took it. And now I'm here to help you again with that girl Heather. Fat Heather, fat Heather, she had a perfect life and family. Her parents love her and she got everything. And now she's back and not fat but even more pretty stealing Alejandro away from you. She's taking your life away, your true family away. Most of them may not like her now but you know she's already won some over and it's only a matter of time before she at least convinces the rest to let her stay because she has always been blessed like that while you had nothing." Duncan cried at that and his other reached a hand out and comforted him.

"There, there, you know it's true. But I will never leave for I am you and I will always help you and we'll get back our Alejandro soon enough and he will love you and only you." As he said it, he started slipping inside Duncan and a mental wall Duncan thought about when keeping the other out crumbled and it slipped into the recesses of his mind but he felt more healthy, more alive, more…him. A part of him that was missing was now back and he felt better than ever. Blinking, Duncan looked around wondering what just happened. How'd he get to the gym? His mind was all foggy and he couldn't remember much, just something about a mirror seeing something…his mind felt blank there. Oh well, since he was here he might as well pump up his strong body. When doing it, he felt better than ever and even broke personal records on all his lifts and he couldn't believe it. He couldn't wait to tell Alejandro.

Heather couldn't believe what just happened. Duncan nearly tries to kill her, twice, and Alejandro beat his friend off for her, even telling him to go away. Heather could only feel relief at that although she couldn't help thinking Duncan would try again, or maybe not. Even though she was certain that Duncan was genuinely crazy at this point, he did stop from killing her because Alejandro asked him to and had threatened that he would hate him forever. Duncan seemed to really love Alejandro and she really was sorry for that because even she knew Alejandro saw Duncan as nothing more than a friend but on the other hand, Duncan already was a crazy nut job who had bullied her and possibly thought she practiced witchcraft and cast a spell on Alejandro so she wasn't all that sorry for him. Just that his love didn't reciprocate the same way. She did not know what Alejandro felt for her as at times he only called her a friend but he had invited her to his party and fought off his "bestest" friend in the world for her…

"Heather, are you alright?" Alejandro asked her and she shook herself out of her reverie.

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah. I am fine." Alejandro smiled a little then started skipping seemingly almost to forget what just happened or that his clothes were all bloody. Wait, she hadn't noticed that. She hoped that was Duncan's blood and not his but wasn't going to ask because he seemed oddly fine so it was probably Duncan's. Hoping the bastard bled to death although probably didn't surprised her in the violence of her thought but he had just tried to kill her so she was justified.

"Alejandro?" She called and he came back a smile on his face, looking very much like a wet dog and Heather imagined a leash on him walking him around which was hilarious because he totally acted like a dog…anyways she opened her mouth and let out a big sneeze.

"Achoo! Anyways, it's getting cold out so we should probably go somewhere dry. It's freezing out." Alejandro looked at Heather and noticed her shivering.

"Okay," he said and he walk-dragged her through the exit of the park to a street curb and dialed a number on a phone he pulled out, speaking for a few moments before shutting it off and closing it.

"We're going to be picked up soon," Alejandro said and just as he said it, a car came around the corner with Susannah at the wheel.

"Hi again Heather," she said friendly. "I'm designated driver today but where's Duncan?" Alejandro shrugged, his shoulders rolling back.

"We had a fight and he went elsewhere," Alejandro said, not really caring. Susannah raised her eyebrows at that since there had to be more to the story because Duncan and Alejandro never had fights, ever. What could it be about? She looked at Heather and she felt the light-bulb go on. Oh, of course, that made sense. Duncan didn't seem to like the girl that much and it was obvious to pretty much everyone the obsession Duncan had with Alejandro, except Alejandro of course. Personally, Susannah who wasn't one of the Burromuerto's yet, found it a bit disturbing and inappropriate just how obsessed Duncan was and how much time they spent together although she never said anything to them about it except Jose who told her not to worry as Duncan was just fine and hadn't done anything. Course, she couldn't help but be suspicious ever since when she learned of the whole prison arrangement thing and was serving volunteer work with the Burromuertos instead of in jail and she never did feel comfortable around him. Something just seemed off with the guy and watching him admire Alejandro like that did not help one bit. She was not homophobic at all, far from it, but Duncan just seemed to give her the creeps despite good behavior even though she had no idea why. So she was happy the punky looking kid had been tossed to the curb and hoped for it to be a more permanent state of affairs.

"Sorry to hear that," Susannah said, not sorry at all and Heather grinned a little. Susannah drove down the street and turned a corner.

"So where are we going?" Heather asked curiously.

"Home," said Alejandro and Heather was surprised.

"No, no, that's okay, I'm fairly sure they don't need me over again this week…" Alejandro gave her a no argument look that cut her off because it was commanding and rather sexy to say the least. "We're going home," Alejandro said primly and Heather didn't argue.

When they got there, Alejandro opened the car door for Heather which was surprising to both Susannah and Heather who to be frank had expected Alejandro to totally forget to do something like that but not only did he do that, he even held the door open when they got to the house. Jose was the only one home and as soon as they got in, Susannah rushed up the stairs calling a quick "be good guys!" as she went up. Alejandro made a 'blech' face and Heather giggled because she knew Susannah was getting something good all right and indeed, Alejandro's face was also hilarious. All of a sudden, he stripped off his wet shirt and threw it somewhere as he shook himself off. Oh good lord…Heather's face flushed red at that, especially when he asked the next question as he started taking off his pants.

"Aren't you going to take your wet things off?" She really blinked at that and then put a hand on top of his to stop it which had been beginning to pull down his underwear.

"Umm, I'll uh…change elsewhere and you could uh…put drier clothes on as well and uh…" Alejandro shrugged nonchalantly and stopped.

"Okay, I'll bring you a towel or something to dry off with." Humming something, he walked out of the room and Heather backed herself against a wall, her hand trying to calm her beating heart. Holy crap, he almost stripped right in front of her…dang, why'd she stop him again? She wondered what he'd look like naked, probably huge judging from what she'd seen…bad thinking, bad! 'Heather, get your mind out of the gutter and focus' she told herself. Then she realized a problem.

"Alejandro?" She called hesitantly and he came back still shirtless but with a new pair of jeans on. She tried to look anywhere but at the god in front of her but she couldn't help but peek a little at that gloriously muscled body every few moments despite being soaked.

"Yes?" he asked pleasantly although it sounded more like a purr to Heather and it took everything she had not to launch herself at him or melt into a pile of Heather goo.

"Do you have any extra female clothes?" She asked and Alejandro stuck his tongue out a little in thought, thinking about it. After a few moments of silence Heather rolled her eyes and asked again.

"Huh-what was that?" Alejandro asked scratching his head.

"I asked if you had any extra female clothes," Heather said again impatiently.

"Nope." Alejandro shrugged his massive shoulders.

"No?" Heather asked confused.

"Nope. You can't wear mama's clothes and taking Suzie's clothes would be stealing not to mention she and Jose are doing things in there right now and I don't want a shoe and other things thrown at my face again like last time." Heather guessed Suzie was Alejandro's nickname for Susannah, did he have nicknames for everyone? "I can give you some of mine," Alejandro offered and Heather thought about it. Wearing Alejandro's clothes would be like wearing bed sheets or something but they'd be dry and cover everything. Not to mention wearing his clothes…she wondered if he knew what that signified but considering the straight face he was giving, probably not.

"Okay, I just want to get out of these," Heather said and Alejandro ran off to get her some. When he came back, she had him show her to the bathroom again and had him wait outside while she locked the door and put his clothes on, or tried to. The shirt was so large it went all the way down past her knees and hung like a nightgown but at least it was dry. Drying her hair, Heather looked at herself and she looked like a bedraggled wet dog so she straightened her hair while she heard Alejandro began to pace back and forth outside, extremely bored and antsy with what was taking Heather so long.

"Come on, hurry up, hurry up!" Alejandro called, panting like a little kid. When Heather thought her hair looked good and the marks on her neck from Duncan's fingers covered up, she went out to greet a hyper-active Alejandro who was bouncing up and down in impatience. "Finally! It's been forever!" Alejandro complained as they headed down the stairs. "How long does it take to put on a shirt?"

"Not long, but I also had to get ready," Heather told him. He looked at her like she was crazy but then grinned widely.

"Wanna play a game Heather, wanna play a game?" Alejandro pleaded. "I want to play a game, you have to play a game, wanna play Chutes and Ladders? Or Monopoly? Or Chess, ooh Chess is fun, or Checkers, or Go Fish, or…"

"Okay, okay, I'll play a game." Heather said and Alejandro beamed in happiness as he ran to the game room and pulled out a bunch to play. Heather followed and watched him as he set the games out, trying to decide which one to play first. It was adorable but she, not for the first time, wondered what caused Alejandro to be all over the place. At times he was a total kid in a ginormous body all clumsy and playful and at other times like earlier, he seemed well aware of what was going on and he had fought off Duncan for her and the way he looked at her earlier…she really hoped that wasn't in her imagination. When he acted like a kid however, it made her feel all weird like she was some child molester or something and she could almost now understand why Alejandro's mama really did not like her although heaven help the child molester who set Alejandro off probably. She shook her head to clear lingering doubts and smiled back when Alejandro happily set the game in front of her.

"Let's play Battle Ship!" Alejandro suggested and Heather just agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: Another story I haven't updated in a while that I wanted to. For those still reading sorry for the forever wait.

It was a week since they last saw Duncan. He either was either taking Alejandro's request to leave him alone seriously or was just biding his time for another opportunity. Heather staked on the latter since Duncan didn't seem like the person to give up so easily and he hated her. Not to mention, he was almost certainly crazy. Alejandro didn't seem to miss him too much at least, not after the day he attacked her, so that was good. Heather went over to his place every day and was becoming a familiar sight there. Susannah and Jose liked Heather and she didn't see much of Jose. He was always busy doing something and the few times he was there, he seemed to see right through her. She had no idea if he liked her or not since he never really said much. However it was clear that Mrs. Burromuerto didn't like her. She didn't try to drive Heather out but she always sent nasty glares at her whenever her son wasn't looking or saying mean comments she knew were directed at her. She also glared at her when she learned that Alejandro and Duncan had a fight over her, although the fact that Duncan had tried to kill her hadn't come up. Alejandro seemed to be in denial about that and she learned very quickly not to bring the Duncan subject up because he became angry. He still wanted to believe Duncan wasn't serious and it was all just a misunderstanding. Heather had to wonder if it would have made a difference if Alejandro's mom knew that Duncan had tried to kill her or if she'd actually try to finish where he left off. She had hinted quite a few times for Duncan to come over and forgive whatever their argument had been about, they were such good friends, yada yada. She could have at least done it when Heather wasn't in the room although maybe that was the point. To tell her 'I don't like you and I never will.' At least it wasn't up for her to decide and as much as Alejandro seemed to worship his mom, he ignored the request to stop bringing Heather over. Honestly, it had shocked even Heather when he threw a tantrum over that and overturned a desk table, smashed some lights, and locked himself in his room. Uh…how old was he again? It did however shock his mom and after a few hours of begging and promising that Heather could stay, he finally unlocked his door and all was good again. He was happy and smiling again, a big grin on his face. It was a good thing Heather liked kids.

Duncan watched with narrowed eyes through his binoculars as he watched Alejandro spin Heather around. They were dancing to some dancing game. Alejandro was really good at it although Heather could use some work. She almost slipped and Duncan's jaw clenched even tighter when he caught her and held her for far longer than was necessary. When she was put upright, they were both laughing and she flipped her hair which Alejandro seemed to follow. She had been there the day before and the day before that. He had given him time to cool off, five days to be precise, and those five days had been hell not seeing Alejandro. It was weird not seeing him every day and he hadn't liked it but he managed to push himself to give Alejandro space like he wanted. He broke on the fifth day and was certain Alejandro must have as well. Alejandro never could hold a grudge or remain mad for long. They did have their fights but it was all forgiven within a few hours or a day so five days was an eternity. Actually, he had been proud to restrain himself for five days. He wanted to go to him from day one and day three he had been twitching and bored out of his mind from loneliness. But as soon as he came back, he saw Alejandro with that wretched girl and he had to stay away. And then she came the next day and was here yet again. The temptation to wrap his hands around her neck was strong and growing stronger every time he had to see her stupid face. She was trying to steal Alejandro from him and he didn't realize what danger he was in. But he would save him. Duncan would always save him. No way was the witch getting her paws for long on his Alejandro.

He was putting the binoculars away when he heard footsteps and Duncan turned around. Behind him was Jose who had a curious expression.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and Duncan shrugged.

"I want to see Alejandro, I've missed him."

"He isn't very happy with you," Jose said with a blank expression. Duncan smirked relieved. He knew Jose wasn't mad. If he had been, Jose would have tried to kick Duncan out already. And despite the neutral expressions Jose always seemed to exhibit, he knew Jose still liked him. When he had first come to the Burromuerto's, Jose had always freaked him out because unless he was with Susannah or eating, he always spoke monotone. Eventually however, Duncan managed to pick up differences in his face and pitch and it was clear there were differences between when he liked or disliked something. The differences were much more subtle than for the average person but it actually was possible to tell, especially when he disliked something. And then there was Susannah with whom Jose was more expressive with. He really liked her. Duncan had liked her too because Jose liked her until he realized she didn't really like him for some reason. She never said as much but he could tell. He had a long experience of being able to tell when a person liked or disliked him. Not to mention she was definitely favoring Heather nowadays. She was the only one who hadn't liked him but she wasn't a real Burromuerto, not yet. Duncan wanted to tell Jose not to marry her but he loved her and as much as it was sickening, Susannah loved him as well. He wasn't going to ruin that. Not like how Heather was stealing Alejandro away from him.

"I know," Duncan said as he got up. "I just miss him." Jose hefted the big bag on his shoulder and Duncan looked at him. "Feeding the horses?" he asked.

"Yep," Jose said as he started off.

"Can I help?" Duncan asked, calling after him. Jose shrugged and Duncan followed after him. When they got to the stable, they replaced the hay with fresh straw and rubbed the horses down while Duncan fed them little cubes of sugar. He always did like doing that. The horses shied away from him at first for some reason today but eventually he calmed them down enough that they approached without trying to bite or kick him.

"Wonder what's gotten into them?" Jose said, frowning the slightest bit. "They usually like you." Duncan shrugged although he wondered himself.

"I don't know," he said. "Hey, do you think I could talk to Alejandro?" Jose shut down a little and shook his head. Duncan wasn't surprised by the reaction although he was a bit disappointed. "How much longer do you think then?" Jose shook his head again. "I see…Alejandro is still mad?" Jose shrugged helplessly and Duncan started pacing. "I see. Is Carlos around?" Jose nodded and Duncan smiled a little. "Bring him here please, we have some things to discuss."

Alejandro smiled at her, his heart racing like he had just gone on a long horse ride or just spent hours working out even though he hadn't. It was a good feeling. In fact, it was even better than that. Whenever he looked at her, his heart raced and he wanted her to stay. She was very pretty in his opinion and she had nice eyes. Plus her hair was fun to touch. It wasn't often he got to touch it but he just wanted to brush it like his mom did. Brushing felt nice and he wanted Heather to feel good also. The only thing he didn't like was Duncan wasn't there. He missed him, even if he had been a big meanie to Heather. Why couldn't they get along? But Duncan tried to make Heather go away and he was forced to give him a timeout. Naughty boys need to be given timeouts and Duncan had been very bad indeed. Until they learned to get along, he couldn't have Duncan here while she was. Plus, she didn't like him very much and vice versa. It was very complicated. He wondered what mommy and daddy would do in such a situation. Or would they do what he was doing? He couldn't say for sure. On the other hand, he got the feeling mommy didn't like Heather. Or he was just being paranoid. Mommy wouldn't not like Heather, Heather was nice. Mommy always said to be nice to nice people.

"Let's do something else, I'm getting tired of dancing," she said smiling at him and Alejandro grinned.

"Okay, let's go hide and seek. You're it," he said laughing as he tagged her and ran off. She was stunned with surprise for a moment before she rolled her eyes.

"Not what I meant!" she called and he turned around and grinned.

"Well, you got to come find me! Close your eyes and start counting!"

"Then can we do something else?" she asked. He nodded.

"Sure, you get to choose next game. But first you got to find me. Start counting and no peeking!" Muttering under her breath, she covered her eyes and started counting and Alejandro ran off to hide.

"97, 98, 99, 100…ready or not here I come!" Heather called as she uncovered her eyes. As she started walking, she shook her head. She couldn't believe she was doing this. She hadn't played this game in years. Not since she was very little and Duncan started to torment her. Speaking of which, she couldn't believe he was still around. What had he been doing with Alejandro? She wasn't surprised why Duncan was interested in Alejandro, even before she knew who he was it had been obvious that he wanted him. What she wondered was how he became almost a part of the family and how he came into the picture. And for personal reasons, she wondered what the heck Alejandro saw in that douche turned insane crazy jealous wacko. Because really, friends? What the hell? That was just messed up. Her curse of bad luck strikes again. She should really consult a witch, see if there was any way to remove it because it keeps popping up and ruining everything. That is if she had a curse and not just a lot of bad luck. Still, there is no way someone should have such a roll of bad luck. It had to be a curse. But for now her curse was named Duncan. Who apparently believed she was a witch or something. Go figure.

"Duncan, hi!" Carlos said. "What are you doing here?" Duncan looked up from where he was patting a horse.

"Just visiting. How is he?" They both knew which he Duncan was referring to and Carlos fidgeted.

"Well, it's uh…well he misses you." Duncan smiled as he relaxed.

"Good. Then I will come see him-"

"He just doesn't want you to come back. Not until you make up with Heather." Duncan's smile froze for a moment.

"What?" he asks between his teeth.

"He wants you and her to make nice and-"

"I see. You mean I have to see her?"

"I think so, he is always around her now…" Carlos started and was surprised when Duncan's eyes flashed and found himself pinned to the wall. Duncan had one arm wrapped around his throat and was starting to squeeze. Wheezing, Carlos struggled.

"Wha-what are you doing." Duncan looked at him for a second and there was a change in him. Letting go, he stepped back and Carlos slumped to the ground, massaging his swollen neck.

"What was that for?" he asked and Duncan looked shocked.

"I…I don't know. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Carlos looked up to see Duncan there swaying, looking ill himself and rather contrite. "I don't know what came over me," he was saying before Carlos interrupted.

"It's fine, just…just don't do it again." Duncan nodded relieved.

"Thank you, I am sorry for that. So Alejandro doesn't want to see me?" Duncan sounded heartbroken and Carlos felt bad for him. Although Duncan didn't look like it, not even in the slightest in fact and the type who would probably hurt someone for even suggesting it, behind that huge muscled exterior was a lost and broken soul who only wanted someone to care. Carlos knew where Duncan came from and that he had been troubled and endured a stint in prison before his mom and uncle plucked him out, but all he felt was sorry for him. Not to mention he was good for his brother. He loved Alejandro but he couldn't always deal with him. Duncan was always happy to spend time with him and it was a surprise when of all people that Duncan chose Alejandro and became such a good companion to him. When he had been brought over for his good community service as part of his work-release program, he had been rather quiet. He hadn't said a word for three days until Alejandro finally convinced their mom to let him go and say hi. Shocked them when he said it might be good for his therapy. Since there was no reason to keep him away, Alejandro started talking to him and although Duncan gave him the cold shoulder at first just the same as all of them, by the end of the day he was laughing. After that Alejandro spent all his time with Duncan, very good friends, and his only one. And it was the same with Duncan so it was not really a surprise they had grown close. Perhaps too close thinking about it but they had all just been happy that Alejandro wasn't alone anymore.

"Do you like her?" Duncan's voice interrupted his musings and Carlos looked up again.

"Huh?" he asked, confused to who Duncan was referring to. "Do I like who?"

"Heather. I know you like her," Duncan said as sat down on the ground as well.

"I don't know what you mean." Carlos said hastily and Duncan gave a small smile.

"I know you want her and it kills you to see her with him, just like it kills me to see him with her. Not to mention it's her fault that I can't see him anymore. If she just minded her own business I wouldn't have had to have that fight. They are always together now aren't they?"

"Yes," Carlos said. "Please don't tell my brother. I don't want to hurt him."

"I don't want that either, I just want to be with him again. But I know a way to solve both our problems."

"But why? You obviously don't like her so why would you care?"

"I don't. But Alejandro does so maybe there is a way for both of us to get what we want. If you could get Heather to like you instead of your brother, it would be great. You'd get who you want, Alejandro would keep Heather as a friend like he wants, and he'd be free to be with who he truly belongs."

"That's a bit presumptuous don't you think? 'With who he truly belongs?' I like you like you are a brother but that's a bit pushing it. I mean, its Alejandro's choice on who he wants to be with and although I do think you guys are awesome together, I don't like you talking like you own him."

"Of course. I apologize. With who he chooses to be with which I certainly hope is me. That is what I hope for."

"You guys are good together and I don't like you fighting…" Carlos said.

"Me neither. I absolutely hate it and over such a little thing. It really would be for the best. I don't like Heather, I admit that. How could I when she's trying to win over Alejandro? But she very well could be a nice girl and one that would look good hanging off your arm. I could even learn to tolerate her if she was with you. You'd be a good influence on her, just like your family was for me. Plus you'd free her from a terrible in the long run relationship. She might like your brother now but for how long? How long could she enjoy playing games like Go Fish, Battle Ship, Hide-And-Seek, etc? She doesn't seem like the person who wants to be both mother and lover of a pure spirit like Alejandro. She also could not be a part of things in the other side of his life. Playing video games, horses, working out….he could crush her by accident. She's so tiny and he's so big, can you imagine what would happen if they…"

"Ew, don't continue, I get the picture," Carlos said bitterly. "The size difference is a bit of an issue. He could accidentally hurt her."

"Exactly!" Duncan said excitedly. "You must help her see the problem!"

"What if she doesn't want to be with me?" Carlos asked. "She seems to really like my brother…"

"Why wouldn't she? You're smart, intelligent, rather good looking, good at soccer, more fitting for her needs, not to mention wouldn't crush her by accident. You'd be able to take care of her and treat her right and she wouldn't have to play silly childish games all the time. Besides, to Alejandro, she's just another playmate. To you she'd be a lover."

"Yeah, I guess so. She'll like me, she'll have to. Once I show her how charming I am…and it's not like I'm stealing my brother's girlfriend. She'd still be around to play and he'll be happy and I'd save her. I could even get mom to like her once she's no longer a threat to her darling. You'd be able to come around again and everything will be all good." Carlos stood up excited. "Yeah I'm doing this. Heather will fall for me soon enough, just wait and see." Duncan stood up as well, dusting off his jeans.

"Oh I can't wait. I can't wait at all." He watched as Carlos strode determinedly out of the barn to find Heather before smiling. He could rely on Carlos to fix things. But if it doesn't work out, he did have another plan. This was just a nicer one that would at least benefit Heather. He hoped she'd take the opportunity though. If she doesn't, he'll have to revert back to taking her out of the picture, one way or the other. But in the end, it was going to be him and Alejandro just as it should be.


End file.
